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Ingelheim am Rhein

In Ingelheim Charlemagne built a palace as an important temporary seat of residence and government to kings and emperors mainly of the early Carolingian and Ottonian dynasties. After the recent excavations, a selection of features was preserved in situ, allowing visitors to appreciate them in their historic context.

Before AD 850

Landscape

Ingelheim is situated in northern Rhenish Hesse (Rheinhessen), an area in the western Rhine/Main region, in the vicinity of Frankfurt am Main. Protected by the Mittelgebirge Hunsrück, Taunus and Nordpfälzer Bergland, the hilly landscape of Rhenish Hesse is one of the warmest regions of Germany with one of the lowest rates of precipitation. It is also an area with exceptionally fertile soil. The western and northern boundaries of Rhenish Hesse are marked by the River Rhine, following a very striking course in this section. Coming from Mainz, the Rhine changes its course to the west for a distance of 25 km, before turning northwards again near Bingen. Ingelheim lies approximately at the midway point of this section. 1Fig. 1

The district of Nieder-Ingelheim, where a ‘Pfalz’ (temporary imperial palace)2 was erected under Charlemagne, is situated 3 km away from the banks of the Rhine on a terrace which gently slopes northwards towards the river. Fig. 2Fig. 3 The main river of Rhenish Hesse, the Selz, joins the Rhine from the south, in Frei-Weinheim, a district of Ingelheim. Based on the poem by the writer Ermoldus Nigellus (died 838?), who describes the arrival of the Danish King Harald Klak (785–846) in Ingelheim, a harbour must have existed at this site in 826. 3 Ermoldus Nigellus also describes a variety of wild animals being brought to an island in the Rhine, which was then used for hunting by the early medieval nobility. 4

Fig. 2: Location of the Pfalz area in Nieder‐Ingelheim, with the River Rhine visible in the distance. Credit: Kaiserpfalz Ingelheim

The early medieval road network was based on the Roman roads.5 The main connection between Mainz (Mogontiacum) and Trier (Augusta Treverorum) and Cologne (Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium) via Bingen (Bingium), ran along the lower terraces of the Rhine and a side route along the upper terraces.6Fig. 4

Settlement

In Ingelheim, archaeological remains report a long settlement history from Stone Age to Celtic period.7 Since the reign of Augustus (27 BC–AD 14) Rhenish Hesse belonged to the Roman Empire. Up to the erection of the Upper Germanic Limes and again in late Antiquity, Ingelheim lay on the very boundary of the empire, marked by the River Rhine. A settlement of craftspeople (vicus), a number of villas as well as the associated cemeteries have been verified in this area, which can be attributed to the hinterland of the provincial capital Mainz (Mogontiacum) of Upper Germania (Germania superior).8Fig. 4

After the end of the Roman Empire, the region belonged to the Frankish settlement area. The last syllable of the name Ingelheim is a clear indication for the contemporary foundation of the settlement.9 A number of grave-fields comprise the archaeological evidence for the presence of settlement structures at this time. In the area of the later Pfalz, some pit houses as well as a posthole building were excavated. Altogether, the typical settlement patterns of the Merovingian period can be reconstructed, with single farmsteads and their associated grave-fields.10 The church of St Remigius had its first Christian predecessor around 700 at the latest, making it one of the earliest Merovingian church foundations in the area.11Fig. 3Fig. 5

The first proven stay of Charlemagne at Ingelheim dates to 774.12 He began building the Pfalz, which is mentioned for the first time in 807 in a document as ‘palatium’.13Fig. 6 The remains of the Pfalz have been thoroughly investigated, although the excavation and evaluation is still ongoing. The representative buildings have an U-shaped layout with a closed build-up structure along the edges, which was only finished during the Ottonian dynasty.Fig. 7 The delay can probably be explained by the preference for the Pfalz at Aachen.14 Despite this fact, the Pfalz at Ingelheim is described as one of the most important building achievements of Charlemagne by Einhard (ca 770–840) in his ‘Vita Caroli Magni’.15

Partners

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This website reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

The project is co-funded by the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic.